Account Fraud

Answered

My husbands name and address has been used to set up a fake account. How is it possible for someone to set up an account without having their ID checked? We have spoken to Telstra consultants and they have sent a ridculous list of things we need to prove who we are and yet they did not have proof of the person that set up the account. How does this happen and who is responsible?

Re: Account Fraud

Contrary to popular belief, a Driver's Licence is not a secure form of ID when it is used as a form of ID online (in Store is a different matter - slightly more secure as it is sighted and a copy taken). It won't show up in a check online to verify someone's identity - except by law enforcement agencies. It can be used in a credit check, but if your husband has a good (or non-existant) credit history then it won't get flagged.

Contact the Police and Lodge a Report with them - this is vitally important as the Telstra Account may not be the only thing that this person has set up in your Husband's name. He will need to go in as well to establish his identity.

Keep copies of Everything - the police should send you a letter outlining the complaint within a couple of days of you lodging it. If they don't mention it when you lodge the report, then ask them to send you one.

Never be afraid to back yourself when trying new things, just always make sure you have 3 escape routes if things go wrong.

Re: Account Fraud

No I said they have used his name and address. We are receiving the bills and have been told they are our responsibilty to pay and yet they will not tell us what the bills are for because the date of birth is different. It's ridiculous, they won't even cancel the account so we keep getting bills that aren't ours.

Re: Account Fraud

You said : My husbands name and address has been used to set up a fake account. How is it possible for someone to set up an account without having their ID checked? We have spoken to Telstra consultants and they have sent a ridculous list of things we need to prove who we are and yet they did not have proof of the person that set up the account. How does this happen and who is responsible?

You didnt say anything about receiving bills to your address.

If its inditity fraud goto the poilice.

Kudos and thanks welcomed

If I have managed to outsmart myself and give a Solution please mark it as so. "button"

Re: Account Fraud

I didn't ask what they check the ID against. I asked who is responsible for setting an account up without checking it, which is obviously what has happened to have the incorrect details on the account. I imagine someone has stolen a letter out of the mail box and just used those details. It shouldn't be possible to set up a billing account without their license or other form of ID checked. If they just cancelled the account it would be fine but they won't but we are not going to pay for something we are not using and we don't want a bad credit reading.

Who is going to pay for our time to sort this out? It's crazy and makes no sense why us showing our ID doesn't prove enough to cancel the account.

Re: Account Fraud

Contrary to popular belief, a Driver's Licence is not a secure form of ID when it is used as a form of ID online (in Store is a different matter - slightly more secure as it is sighted and a copy taken). It won't show up in a check online to verify someone's identity - except by law enforcement agencies. It can be used in a credit check, but if your husband has a good (or non-existant) credit history then it won't get flagged.

Contact the Police and Lodge a Report with them - this is vitally important as the Telstra Account may not be the only thing that this person has set up in your Husband's name. He will need to go in as well to establish his identity.

Keep copies of Everything - the police should send you a letter outlining the complaint within a couple of days of you lodging it. If they don't mention it when you lodge the report, then ask them to send you one.

Never be afraid to back yourself when trying new things, just always make sure you have 3 escape routes if things go wrong.

Re: Account Fraud

I am sorry this has happened to you and your husband. There are a number of factors involved in this scenario, and unfortunately there are some dishonest people around who do not respect the privacy of others. As cretsiah mentioned, there are many ways people can obtain information to commit theft and identify fraud.

As Jupiter has outlined, these are the correct steps you must follow to have this rectified.

Re: Account Fraud

Exactly the same thing has just happened to me. Apparently, a phone was ordered, online. They used my name and date of birth and a licence number that is not connected to me. Telstra seems to have some big holes in their security checks.

Re: Account Fraud

How can you enter a contract online and ssue a contract on a drivers licence, date of birth and (clearly a) false credit card? Intercepting a few pieces of mail could provide enough information to contract online. How can this be a robust online process? Why does Telstra also not try and help people resolve these issues? But rather send fraudulent information to Equifax and tell the cutomer to sort it out. Telstra online contracts should be stopped immediately as ther are no controls to protect the consumer.

Re: Account Fraud

I'm really sorry to hear this has occurred and we take identity fraud very seriously. Have you lodged a formal complaint in relation to this so it can be appropriately investigated? If so, do you have the SR 1-xx reference so we can follow up further for you?

Re: Account Fraud

I'm sorry you are having some issues with the complaints page. I've checked via Google Chrome and am able to access the complaint page with no issues at all. Are you able to give it another try on a different browser and see how you go?

In regards to creating accounts online, we verify the details that are provided a number of ways. We appreciate your suggestion, however can assure you that there are also dishonest people who present in store with fake identification who try and sign up for services face-to-face, not only online or over the phone. If services have been created under someone's name which are unauthorised, we take this very seriously and have a number of processes available to investigate these occurrences.

Please let us know if there is something specific we can assist you with as we are here to help.

Re: Account Fraud

You should have been provided with an SR number and I'm sorry this hasn't come through yet. Have you checked your spam or junk email folder to see if it is located there, or perhaps sent to a secondary email address associated with your account?

Usually it takes 3-5 business days for a case manager to be assigned, so this may be why you have not been called as of yet, depending on when you lodged the complaint.

Please check any other email inboxes and/or junk folders and let me know if you are able to locate an SR number. If not, I can advise further on how we can get this resolved.

Re: Account Fraud

Same has happened to me. Simple fraud but ridiculous Telstra processes. So far I have:

- Reported it on 24/7 and told the system not showing order submitted but nothing to worry about and someone would get back to me within a few days, SR number given.

- A week or so went past and no-one contacted me and i was told the person on 24/7 was sick and someone would ring me;

- Phoned by Telstra rep and told to go to local Telstra store with drivers licence;

- Go to Telstra store next day and told different licence number and email address used by offender and that there was nothing they could do and handed me a complaints phone number to ring;

- Rang complaits number and told to go back to Telstra store with drivers licence, stat dec and a bill showing where i lived. Also told a rep from Telstra store would be my case manager. Given and INT number.

- Go back to store following day and provided docs as requested. Told the person who i spoke to on complaints line had not recorded any details on the INT record. Told i would be telephoned.

- Telephoned later that day and told I would need to reattend store with passport and medicare card for ID purposes.

- Reattend store for third time and told someone outside store would be case manager.

- Telephoned two days later and told the Telstra shop employee had not forwarded some of the ID docs through to the case manager. Provided with another SR number.

-Telephoned by a case manager the very next night and told they still didnt have the docs from telstra store employee and asked if i could attend the store for a fourth time to provide same or could i email them through. I objected as i have already provided telstra with all my ID and if they had lost it then clearly someone else now had enough identity documents to impersonate me. Told me someone from accounts would get back to me next seek.

It is clear from language used by the Telstra staff that they do not believe someone else has used my identity to order a phone. They cannot even tell me what address the phone (some super'duper iphone i am told) was sent to but that I had allegedly signed for it when received from StarTrack. I am now awaiting the consignment number to be provided by telstra so that at least Star Track can track down the delivery address. That way i can confront the thieving **bleep** myself.

A system that treats victims as criminals is appalling. The system to report fraud should be straightforward not complicated. It is riddled with processes where your staff make mistakes. When people like myself provide telstra with ID documents then there should be strict and secure storage of same and no chance whatsoever that staff can lose them, it only makes identity theft more prevalent and somewhat easy.

Re: Account Fraud

Thank you for taking the time to detail your concerns and I definitely agree the process should be much simpler. We are always working on improvements and your feedback is extremely invaluable in relation to this.

So that I can follow up further and ensure this is addressed as a matter of priority, could you please provide your SR number?

Re: Account Fraud

Sorry Georgie we will have to agree to disagree on your online processes - they are poor. If you are going to have loose processes at least make it easier for poor pople like me when it happens.

As a result, I have had a default put on my credit file, my credit cards suspended for the next six months and I have spent no less than 8 hours on the phone with Telstra, Equifax, at Police stations and in your stores (with all of the documents).

At no time have Telstra contacted me - ever. And every time I call (over 20 times including internal transfers) I re-tell the story get an apology and nothing happens.

Telstra have not called me once. They say they have, but I have a Telstra phone you can check; they are probably caling the person impersonating me. Ironically I set up an account with Telstra this year and there was no mention of this.

I am pretty convinced Telstra is not interested in getting to the bottom of this or fixing my issue.

Re: Account Fraud

This has just happened to me. Its unbelievable how little responsibility Telstra take for basically facilitating online fraud. If I had any other options for a provider I would leave but I dont. I am going to report this to the telco ombudsman https://www.tio.com.au/ and urge anyone else this has happened to do so as well. I tried to lodge a complaint online with Telstra and it repeatedly comes back with 'Service Error - try again later'

Re: Account Fraud

Sorry to say this has happened to me. Hours on the phone on hold to the complaints line. Hours talking to South East Asia call centre. I agree they do not believe you and will not give information to you about what information was given to them. Found delivery address from Star track and will visit them myself out of curiosity. Telstra want Stat Decs, Polices reports etc. They wont even let me close my account. weeks trying to talk to someone then just get the same chatter. YOU DID IT we have proof. When asked to supply me proof they cannot other than my name. A very weak system. Oh by the way I am not talking 1 iPhone 8 but 1o of them. You would have thought they would have picked up something was suss. I don't even have a mobile account with Telstra and have not for over 10years. Anyway I have contacted the OMBUDSMAN so now waiting 10days for Telstra to reply.

Re: Account Fraud

Some thing happened to me have spent 5-6 hours on the phone and presenting my ID to the Telstra store then 6 months after the first instance they gave the fraudster another device!! I am a legitimate Telstra customer so how hard could it be to figure it out. Fraudster used a different date of birth and licence number in a different state and they still get phones!? The same thing happened with OPTUS at the same time and they cancelled the phone and resolved the investigation in 4-5 weeks im going to the ombudsman. Telstra do nothing.

Re: Account Fraud

I can't answer your question, but when I read the Privacy Statement just before logging on to Crowd Support, I was shocked; it should be called Lack of Privacy Statement. Some of the information is shared with companies I have never heard of, some is given in countries such as China and Chile not to mention several others. The list is huge and while some are mandated by law and some is essential, it seems an awfully long list. Some folks give false information about themselves and now I can see the reason.Try the Telecommunications Ombudsman.Good luck!

Re: Account Fraud

Sorry to hear this, same thing happened to myself.I have not received a paper bill to date, yet many phone calls from Dun & Bradstreet, just telling me to immediately pay and they will not list a credit default on my credit rating, I have spent over 35 hours sorting this out, I am a criminal in Telstras eyes, I havevjumoed through hoops and they still think I am, they will not even tell me what the bill is for, just ordering me to pay, I definitely think this loophole constitues for a class action against Telstra and we should be paid for our time. I personally am getting calls from the debt collectors to pay, and when I call Telstra they tell me I owe the money. I might pay the amount just so I don't get a bad credit rating, I need to borrow money soon and the $2,000+ I supposedly owe Telstra is a pittance in the scheme of things. Ultimately, I am being treated like a criminal and need to prove my innocence to Telstra, I would never deal with Telstra again.

Re: Account Fraud

Hi Rickstar007, We’re from the Dun & Bradstreet Community Management team and have read that you are having some difficulties. If you are still experiencing these issues, can you reach out to our main Twitter account (@DnBUS)? We’d like to discuss it further and work towards a resolution.

Please let us know if you will be sending us a note so we can make sure to get to it ASAP.

Re: Account Fraud

D&B Thank you very much for your message, in no way do I think D&B are being out of order, they are just chasing the account under the direction of Telstra, I am sure there are many people running from legitimate debts and D&B would not know I do not really owe the money.

Regarding your message, I have recently provided a case number from the telecommunications Ombudsman to D&B and I have not been called by D&B since :-)

Re: Account Fraud

Use the information from the paperbill log into my account with your husband's name as below: regardless of any other username he has set up

First name.surname@bigpond.com then click forgot password.On the paperbill it should show the phone number your supposed to pay for.Put that number in box marked xxxxxxxxxxxxThen, in the password box type: abcd1234That should give you access to change and view whatever you need to fix or cancel this problem

Re: Account Fraud

@Ajaye, that doesn't actually help fix anything as the service would still be recorded against their husband. The only way to fix it was through lodging a complaint with Telstra to get it rectified.

Even if they had cancelled the service through My Account on the website, that would mean that they would have been liable for all outstanding charges for the account. It has to be done from Telstra's end so that all the record keeping is in place.

Never be afraid to back yourself when trying new things, just always make sure you have 3 escape routes if things go wrong.

Re: Account Fraud

This has just happened to me and I have only just found out about it today when I tried to apply for a credit card for holiday hire care and had my application declined. When I rang the credit card company I applied for, they told me I had a default in my credit rating as the reason and pretty much hung up. I went online and went through a free credit rating check to find that I had an outstanding $478 bill from Telstra. So I logged into my Telstra account to find I was in credit $7. I no longer have any products with Telstra FYI, its was about 1 year ago when the NBN was connected we changed from Telstra to Dodo. I rang Telstra to find out that this account had nothing to do with Internet and Home phone but was a mobile product in my name, a Samsung S7 and they then gave me the mobile number for it which I have never had (Doesn't work, tried ringing). I have been with Vodafone for at least 8 years for my mobile device where I had an Iphone 3S, Samsung S4 and currently a Samsung S6 and was looking into getting an S9+ recently. The only phone plan I had with Telstra was when I was a Teen in early 2000s and had a Motorola V3 flip phone, where I was young dumb and ripped off blind. Telstra said their team would look into it over the next 7-10 business days. They also told me the plan was signed up using an address I lived at in 2015. I'm not sure when the account was created with Telstra though I'm hoping that it was after 2015 So I can prove somewhat that I wasn't there. So frustrating. I am going to the police tomorrow to report it, I also work for the military, so I also have to report it there which is extremely bad enough. I will keep you updated here with the progress through this fraud complaint. Fingers crossed it doesn't take long to sort out and they catch the individual who did this to me.

Re: Account Fraud

This has just happened to me and I have only just found out about it today when I tried to apply for a credit card for holiday hire care and had my application declined. When I rang the credit card company I applied for, they told me I had a default in my credit rating as the reason and pretty much hung up. I went online and went through a free credit rating check to find that I had an outstanding $478 bill from Telstra. So I logged into my Telstra account to find I was in credit $7. I no longer have any products with Telstra FYI; it was about 1 year ago when the NBN was connected we changed from Telstra to Dodo. I rang Telstra to find out that this account had nothing to do with Internet and Home phone but was a mobile product in my name, a Samsung S7 and they then gave me the mobile number for it which I have never had (Doesn't work, tried ringing). I have been with Vodafone for at least 8 years for my mobile device where I had an IPhone 3S, Samsung S4 and currently a Samsung S6 and was looking into getting an S9+ recently. The only phone plan I had with Telstra was when I was a Teen in early 2000s and had a Motorola V3 flip phone, where I was young dumb and ripped off blind. Telstra said their team would look into it over the next 7-10 business days. They also told me the plan was signed up using an address I lived at in 2015. I'm not sure when the account was created with Telstra though I'm hoping that it was after 2015 so I can prove somewhat that I wasn't there. So frustrating. I am going to the police tomorrow to report it; I also work for the military, so I also have to report it there which is extremely bad enough. I will keep you updated here with the progress through this fraud complaint. Fingers crossed it doesn't take long to sort out and they catch the individual who did this to me.

Re: Account Fraud

Hi Savy, I appreciate the time taken to post about this experience and I trust this can be sorted out for you soon. The police report is a recommended course of action, and the debt referral can also be followed up by our Credit Management team if a complaint is lodged through Lodging a complaint with Telstra

Re: Account Fraud

An update today! Great customer service and feedback through the complaints department, I spoke to a woman named Vanessa who raised the complaint. # SR1-1532882344355. She said that the default would be removed and the credit department are investigating the removal of the $478.39 on my account! She is also going to ring me Wednesday to confirm that the ball is moving forward! Terrific!

On a side note, I asked a few questions as to how the account was made under my name, and it appears they signed up for the phone online. However they would have had to receive the phone at my previous address, so I am assuming they were/are living there. The odd thing is that the account was made November 2016 and I moved out of the Address January 2016, huge time lapse to commit fraud. What is even weirder is that they returned the phone in store, in person, March 2017 and didn't pay the final transaction? Why would you commit fraud but then return the phone? Whats even more worrying is wondering if this is just the tip of the iceberg. What else have the signed up for? etc.

The only thing I can think of, in terms of how they got access to my details is receiving a Rego renewal letter before the point I changed my forwarding address. That would give them name, old address, and Drivers License number. The only thing required left would be my date of birth? Which guess what... is in November, the same time they signed up for the phone, very patient criminals we have here. I must have still had mail going to my old address for that long after? It could have been a Boost Juice notification in November to pick up my birthday juice on this "day" and congrats for being this "old" and then working back from there. Who knows how they got it.

I reported everything to the police today along with a Stat-Dec, and even helped point them to the property managers of that address so they could potentially find who the residents where at the time of the account creation. They pointed out that it was highly unlikely that even after chasing it up they would have anything sufficient enough to peruse an individual. Which is a bit disappointing. Maybe that is a reason they returned the phone? Is there a way to track a phone regardless of who's or what SIM is inside?

Anyway I'm pretty happy with Telstra right now, hopefully everything can be sorted out easy enough. Moral of the story here is always make sure your mail is Diverted!

Re: Account Fraud

Hi Savy666, Thank you so very much for the follow up and latest details. Please keep us posted that all is resolved accordingly if possible. You can also keep an eye your account when needed either using your mobile at http://tel.st/app or with your MyAccount at http://tel.st/cpyn

Re: Account Fraud

Similar incident happened with me. Somehow a phone was acquired on my account, billing details were changed and we discovered months later.. Thus far its been 2 months since the charges were disputed and it has not been resolved-- i have had no less than a dozen frustrating interactions with telstra on the phone and visited the store a few times. Its almost unbelievable a) how this occurred b) the hoops telstra make you jump through to prove it wasnt you and c) that telstra manages to function as a going concern in this market. 1/10 Telstra, really poor.